For many years harvesters, such as agricultural balers, have been used to consolidate and package crop material so as to facilitate the storage and handling of the crop material for later use. Usually, a mower-conditioner cuts and conditions the crop material for windrow drying in the sun. When the cut crop material is properly dried, a harvester, such as a round baler, the most frequently used in the industry, travels along the windrows to pick up the crop material and form it into cylindrically-shaped round bales.
More specifically, the cut crop material is gathered at the front of the baler from along the ground, onto a pickup assembly, and introduced into a bale-forming chamber within the baler. Inside the cut crop is rolled up into a predetermined size. A conventional bale chamber may include a pair of opposing sidewalls with a series of belts, chains, and/or rolls that rotate and compress the crop material in to the cylindrically-shaped round bale. When the predetermined size is achieved, the cylindrically-shaped round bale is wrapped and bound by wrapping material, such as net wrapping, plastic wrapping, and/or wire. After the round bale is wrapped, the back of the baler, or tailgate, opens and the wrapped bale is discharged.
Wrapping material is fed into the baler off a wrapping material roll and into a wrapping mechanism, conventionally located in the front of the baler. As the baler forms, bounds, and distributes the bale, wrapping material is depleted until the roll needs to be replaced by a spare. Typically, one or two spare wrapping material rolls are stored on the baler, usually housed at the rear of the baler at the tailgate. When a roll of wrapping material needs to be replaced, the operator discards the depeted roll, walks to the back of the baler to acquire a stored roll, then walks the stored roll to the front of the baler, and installs the new roll. Wrapping material roll length typically measures 122 to 130 centimeters (48 to 51 inches) in length and between 30 and 45 kilograms (70 to 100 pounds) in weight. The size, weight, and typical location for spare roll storage create a burden for an operator to transport the roll from the rear of the baler and install the roll at the front of the baler. The operator is tasked to lift the roll to a material support cylinder and slide the roll onto the cylinder. The material support cylinder can be 4 to 5 feet off the ground. Additionally, once on the cylinder, the wrapping material roll is then pushed into the operating position. Thus, it is desireable to minimize operator effort to replace a roll of wrapping material. Relatedly, it is also desireable to improve storage capability of rolls of wrapping material on balers.
The invention relates to a storage location and a process for wrapping material roll indexing that minimizes manual operator effort for placement and access to wrapping material rolls in an active postions, and minimizes the time of total manual operator involvement when replacing and installing a roll of wrapping material. The purpose of the invention is to improve the efficiency of the baler operation by reducing the time it takes for a baler operator to replace a roll of warpping material.